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Using Information and Communication

Technology in Delivering Career

Interventions

James P. Sampson, Jr.

Debra S. Osborn

April 2013

Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems

Center for the Study of Technology in

Counseling and Career Development

Florida State University

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Introduction

• Career interventions aim to promote career

growth and development across the lifespan

• Career interventions range from providing

intensive practitioner support to individuals

over time to individuals using self-help

resources without practitioner assistance

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Introduction

• Information and communication technology

(ICT) has become a key element in delivering

career interventions

• ICT integrates the data processing capacity of

computers with the data transmission capacity

of digital networks to increase access to

career interventions, as well as increase

access to career practitioners and other

decision makers

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Introduction

ICT-based career interventions evolved from

the delivery of assessments, information,

and instruction on personal computers, to

now delivering assessments, information,

and instruction on the Internet along with

providing services at a distance and social

media via the Internet.

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Introduction

• Recent advances in the internet have

changed the ways in which information is

created and disseminated

• The internet has evolved from a resource to

facilitate communication and disseminate

information to the collaborative construction

of knowledge using social media and

mobile devices

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Introduction

• Internet now includes substantial content

derived from users

• The locus of control in the Internet is

shifting from the experts to a blend of

expert and user-constructed knowledge

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Introduction

Changes in the nature of the Internet

increase the potential of ICT to

transform the nature of guidance

services

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Introduction

• Practitioners need to take advantage of the

new opportunities afforded by ICT to

effectively serve individuals in ways that were

not possible in the past

• If practitioners are to transform guidance, ICT

skill training is essential

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Overview

• Benefits and problems of ICT

• Role of the practitioner and the role of ICT

• The influence of practitioners’ scope of practice

• Career guidance systems

• Career assessment

• Career information

• Distance career counseling

• Social media, mobile technology, apps, and games

• Online career centers

• Blended ICT-based career resources and services

• Ethical issues and professional standards

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Benefits and Problems of ICT

Computer applications in counseling and

guidance have always represented an

evolving combination of potential

benefits and problems.

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Benefits of ICT

• The Internet provides increased

access to information

• Distance service delivery provides

increased access to interventions for

individuals with disabilities and

individuals in remote geographic

locations 11

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Benefits of ICT

• The convenience and anonymity of

distance service delivery further

reduces barriers to access

• The Internet makes it easier to locate

resources and services to meet specific

individuals’ needs as a result of the

increasingly powerful search engines

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Benefits of ICT

• The interactive and multimedia nature

of the internet maximizes the

opportunities for learning

• Utilizing ICT lowers costs, improves

cost-effectiveness, and assists in

online recruitment and job search

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Problems of ICT

Using ICT in the delivery of career

interventions also presents potential

problems.

• Questionable quality of some career

assessments

• Questionable quality of some career

information

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Problems of ICT

• Poor implementation of ICT

applications

• Questionable confidentiality

• Security of some client records

• Lack of counselor intervention when

it may be needed

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Problems of ICT

• Limited evidence of the use of career

theory in designing ICT applications

• Reduced access for individuals with

limited financial resources

• Reduced use due to limited digital

literacy and advanced age

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Roles of ICT and Role of the

Practitioner

• ICT and practitioners each have

unique and complementary roles in

delivering career interventions

according to their capabilities

• One of the roles of ICT is to perform

the repetitive information processing

and instructional aspects of career

interventions. 17

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Roles of ICT

1. Test and inventory administration

and interpretation

2. Database searches

3. Cross walking among databases

4. Standardized delivery

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Roles of ICT

5. Monitoring progress of the user

through the career planning

process

6. Delivering instruction

7. Linking to resources

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Roles of ICT

Another way to conceptualize the roles

of ICT is to focus on specific

contributions to the guidance process

and to individuals’ career decisions.

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Roles of ICT

Barnes, La Gro, and Watts (2010) suggested that ICT

may be used for the following four functions:

1) informing (accessing career information)

2) experiencing (learning from virtual online simulations)

3) constructing (understanding their situation using

online assessments)

4) communicating (accessing social networks for support

and action, wider access to placement or opportunity

awareness)

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Roles of ICT

Osborn, Dikel, and Sampson (2011) proposed a similar

model of three functions:

1) understanding (assist the individual to better

understand the nature of his or her problem, i.e.,

accessing Web-based information to better

understand the causes of underemployment)

2) acting (assist the individual to act in ways that helps

to solve his or her problem, i.e., accessing a Web-

based career portfolio to build an evidence-base of

skills to be used in a future job search)

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Roles of ICT

3) coping (assisting the individual to better cope with

problems that cannot be completely solved, i.e.,

accessing social media to communicate with other

persons on successful strategies for coping with the

frustration of underemployment).

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Roles of the Practitioner

• The primary roles of the practitioner in

relation to ICT is to assist individuals in

selecting, accessing, and using quality ICT

applications that are relevant to their needs

• Some practitioners may also be involved in

designing and systematically examining ICT

applications

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• Practitioners need to monitor individuals’

use of social media

• Experience with ICT indicates that

practitioner intervention is needed for

some individuals

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• Individuals may not select an ICT application

that is best suited to their needs and

readiness for career decision making

• Some clients need help in selecting and using

Internet-based resources

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It should also be noted that the

assessment of readiness for using

career interventions is a key element

of successful use of a career

intervention.

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• The optimum intervention for some

clients involves a combination of

counseling and ICT use

• Evidence has shown that practitioner

intervention with ICT led to positive

career development outcomes

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Models of counseling intervention related to ICT

share similar steps

Gore, Bobek, Robbins, and Shayne (2006) include

three steps in their model:

• preparing individuals

• monitoring use

• processing results

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Osborn, Dikel, and Sampson (2011) include four

steps:

• Screening

• Recommending – Selecting

– Sequencing

– Pacing

• Orienting

• Follow-up

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Competencies for practitioners using ICT in service

delivery include:

1. Knowledge of computer-assisted software and

Web sites

2. Capability to diagnose client needs

3. Capability to motivate clients

4. Capability to help clients process data, and

5. Capability to help the client create and implement

an action plan.

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The Influence of Scope of Practice and

Organizational Support

• The nature and extent of a practitioner’s

use of ICT in career interventions is

strongly influenced by their scope of

practice and the support available for ICT

integration

• Practitioners’ scope of practice is

determined by their competencies and

whom they serve, as well as how and

where that service is provided 32

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As a result, some practitioners will make

extensive use of ICT in their work, while

others will make less use of the range of

ICT options available.

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For example, practitioners working in settings

that provide mostly face-to-face individual

counseling will use ICT to manage their

work, obtain information they need from the

Internet, recommend resources for their

clients, and communicate with colleagues.

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• Practitioners in settings where clients are

served over wider geographic areas may add

distance counseling to their competencies

• In settings where there is a mission to serve

clients that are less likely to seek traditional

office-based services, such as unemployed

young people with limited education,

practitioners may need to add social media

competencies to their ICT competencies

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Practitioners working in settings that

serve a high volume of clients may

utilize more Web-based assessment,

information, and instructional

resources in conjunction with more

brief face-to-face interventions in

order to meet demand.

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Computer-Assisted Career

Guidance Systems

A computer-assisted career guidance

system, CACGS, includes three

components:

1. Assessment

2. Search for options

3. Information delivery

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Guidance Systems

CACGS offer the following specific features:

a. on-line chat with a career practitioner

b. career videos in English and other languages

c. career portfolio

d. sharing of data via social media (e.g.,

LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter),

e. creation of educational and career plans

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Guidance Systems

f. job placement tools, such as resume

builders, interviewing practice, and drafting

cover letters and thank you letters

g. local job banks and the capacity to

research local employers

h. exporting important event dates to a

calendar

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Guidance Systems

i. supplemental digital publications on

various career topics

j. calendar reminder for educational and

career plans

k. technical and training support (phone

service, online chat, webinar

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Guidance Systems

• Almost all of these individual elements

of CACGS are available online in one

form or another

• The value of the CACGS is the way

that it integrates various elements and

provides a coherent and structured

learning environment

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Assessment

Computer-assisted career assessment is

an important component of the career

planning process, and can be used by a

client in conjunction with a career

practitioner or by an individual seeking

online self-help for a career decision.

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Assessment

• Computer-assisted career assessment

provides many benefits, including improved

integration of the assessments taken, active

engagement of clients, fewer errors, and

quicker results

• Within minutes of completing a career

assessment, a client can be provided with a

detailed profile of their results that also

integrates with multimedia career information 43

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Assessment

• Other career assessments are available for

practitioners only at Vocopher, an online repository of

career development resources

• It should also be noted that not all instruments that

are available online are current, valid, or reliable

• Therefore, a key role of the career practitioner is to

help clients locate appropriate instruments for their

needs

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Assessment

A key application of ICT in assessment is

computer-based test interpretation (CBTI)

CBTI uses information technology to integrate

theory, practitioner judgment, and empirical

evidence, as one source of data, to help

practitioners and test takers better understand

the meaning of test scores for the purpose of

gaining insight and making decisions

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Assessment

• The best case scenario is when CBTI is seen

in a consultant role, and as one source of

information that is integrated with other

information about the client by the practitioner

• Thus, CBTI has the potential to be of great

value to the practitioner as well as the test

taker

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Assessment

• Issues can arise when a practitioner relies too

much on the CBTI, in effect allowing the

report to act as a replacement for the

practitioner

• Many times, while the career assessment has

been validated, information on the validity of

the CBTI is limited

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Information

Career information consists of

occupational information, educational

information, employment information,

and job banks.

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Information

At its most basic level, information is

data, knowledge or intelligence that is

given or received, and may be fact or

opinion, valid or invalid, simple or

complex, current or outdated,

presented in or out of context, biased

or unbiased, useful or not useful.

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Information

• The internet, complete with strong search

engines, can yield thousands of links to

information within seconds of inputting of a

term. Not all of this information is equal in

quality

• Career practitioners have an ethical

responsibility to ensure that the information

they use with clients is current, and

unbiased 50

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Information

• Career practitioners should be critical

evaluators of online information and teach

their clients to do the same

• Career practitioners are also responsible

for determining client readiness to use

information, helping determine the

sequence when information enters the

career counseling process

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Information

• The best known tools for occupational

information include the ONET (onetonline.org)

and the Occupational Outlook Handbook

(bls.gov/oco)

• ONET consists of a database of occupations

that includes detailed information on job tasks,

tools/technology, knowledge, skills, ability,

education, interests, work styles, wages, and

employment information 52

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Information

• Education and training information include

searchable listings of colleges, universities

and training programs

• An individual can search listings by program

of study, type of institution (i.e., private or

public), size, geographical location, student

body demographics, tuition rates, and so forth

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Information

• Employment information includes job search

information and job vacancy listings

• Job search information addresses topics such

as creating a resume, writing a cover letter,

conducting an interview, negotiating a job

offer, using social media to land a job, and

creating a comprehensive job search

campaign

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Issues Related to Special

Populations

• Special populations include persons with

disabilities, people from diverse groups,

sexual minorities, veterans, offenders and the

elderly

• Most CACGs and career information sites are

designed to be used by all populations

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Populations

However, because of the unique

attributes of special populations,

online job search information is often

presented on websites and job search

boards specific to members of these

groups.

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Populations

For example,

- diversityemployers.com

- hirenetwork.org

- aarp.org/work

- civilianjobs.com

are all examples of sites that provide career

information and links to employers who are

interested in hiring individuals from these

special groups.

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Distance Career Counseling

Distance career counseling involves the

provision of brief or longer-term

individual counseling to clients via the

telephone or the web that is often

augmented by the use of career

assessments and information available

on the Internet

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Distance Career Counseling

• This particular application of ICT is a major

contributor to the increased access to career

interventions. Distance service provision has

been in existence for some time in the form of

telephone help lines

• Over time there has been an increasing use of

the telephone for in-depth career intervention

as opposed to information provision

• Evidence of effectiveness is increasing

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Social Media

Social media, applications (apps) and online

games have expanded the possibilities of

career counseling information and

interventions.

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Social Media

With millions of people using social

media such as Facebook, Twitter,

LinkedIn, Instagram, and others,

career practitioners are exploring how

to incorporate these venues into

career service delivery.

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Social Media

• Many career centers have increased their use

of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter

and LinkedIn, as a way to share information

with students

• Other possible tools might include blogs,

discussion forums, and chatting features for

sharing career information

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Mobile Technology

• With the advent of smart phones,

blackberries, and tablets came application

software or “apps”

• Some apps such as Unstuck, DecideNow,

and iThoughtsHD may have application in

career counseling

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Mobile Technology

• Mobile technologies also provide potentially

useful tools for the career practitioner within

their hardware

• For example, the video camera on a tablet

could record a mock interview and then be

sent to the client, or shared through a file-

sharing app such as google drive or dropbox

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Mobile Technology

Many career websites, such as the online

Occupational Outlook Handbook, have

mobile apps that allow clients to

research on their mobile device.

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Games

Career practitioners have used games

such as card sorts, the Holland Party

Game or the Real Game in face-to-

face counseling.

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Games

• Three online career games include

realgame.com, driveofyourlife.org, and

SIMS3: Ambitions

• These games engage individuals in

assessing their interests and exploring

options by linking those activities to

achieving game objectives

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Online Career Centers

An online career center provides

internet-based resources and links

to other relevant internet sites for

individuals making career choices,

with career practitioner support

provided for those who need

assistance.

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Online Career Centers

• Online career center can increase

clients’ access and remove the space

limitations that occur in conventional

career libraries

• Online career centers can be developed

at a relatively low cost and are relatively

easy to adapt to a particular situation

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Blended ICT-Based Career

Resources and Services

The potentially greatest gains in using

ICT resources occur when

applications are blended in

meaningful ways.

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• The most common form of integration involves

practitioners providing assistance to

individuals in need in a timely manner

• Practitioners can assist individuals in the

“teachable moment” while they are using a

career resource

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• In this way, practitioners can help individuals

immediately process and apply what they are

learning from using a resource to a career

problem

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Ethical Issues and Professional

Standards

The exponential availability of technological

resources has raised many ethical

concerns. Ethical standards that exist for

face-to-face counseling also apply to

distance counseling, although the venue

of service delivery might require some

adjustment of these standards.

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Ethical Issues and Professional

Standards

Career practitioners using the Internet to

provide services must also learn how to

deliver these services in an effective

manner within these new contexts while

being aware of credentialing and licensure

issues when providing services across

state lines.

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Conclusion

• ICT can act not only as a tool but

potentially acting as an agent of change

in the ways in which we conceptualize

and deliver career

• This view continues just as true today

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Reference

• Sampson, Jr., J. P., & Osborn, D. S.

(submitted 2013). Using information and

communication technology in delivering

career interventions. In P. J. Hartung,

M. L. Savickas, & W. B. Walsh, (Eds).

APA handbook of career intervention.

Washington, DC: American

Psychological Association.

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